University Libraries have three events planned for Open Education Week, March 27-31, 2017. The purpose of Open Education Week is to raise awareness about free and open educational opportunities and how open education can help students and teachers alike meet their educational goals. It was created by the Open Education Consortium.
Events
First up is an Open Education Twitter Chat Wednesday, March 29 from noon to 1. Here’s how to participate:
- Log in to your personal Twitter account.
- Go to the Libraries’ page: twitter.com/uarklibraries
- Questions will be posted from the @UARKLibraries account.
- Respond to the questions using the hashtag #OpenEdUARK
- The Libraries will be responding to and retweeting your comments.
Immediately following the Twitter chat, a presentation on “Electronic Notebooks: What’s the Deal?” by Stephanie Pierce, head of the Physics Library will be held from 1-2 p.m. in Mullins 104. Participants will be introduced to free electronic notebook software that can be used in a classroom setting, including the pros and cons of each. Software that will be discussed include Evernote, Google Docs, OneNote, Open Science Framework, and DoCollab.
On Friday, March 31, instructional designer Scott Wright will present an “Introduction to Open Educational Resources” from 10-11 a.m. in Mullins 104. With renewed scrutiny of the accessibility and cost of higher education, the open educational resources movement has garnered increased attention and relevance over the past decade. Participants will learn what open educational resources are and a brief history of the movement. Additionally, they will discover where to search for open educational resources. The Creative Common License will also will be introduced and reviewed. Finally, participants will explore how open educational resources can be implemented in their current or future courses.
Poll Results
University Libraries conducted a poll of how much U of A students are spending on textbooks prior to Open Education Week. Posters were hung in Mullins and each branch library, giving students the opportunity to place a tally mark in the column best representing what they spend in an average semester. Out of 734 total participants, 53 reported paying $100 or less for textbooks each semester, 91 reported paying $100-$200, 130 reported paying $200-$300, 155 reported paying $300-$400, and 305 – the highest number – reported paying $400 or more.
Information and Resources
In a recently published, peer-reviewed article, head of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Library and distinguished professor Luti Salisbury, along with team members Anuradha Rai Chowdhury and Jeremy J. Smith, found that an increasing number of articles written by University of Arkansas authors are being published in fully open access journals indexed by the Web of Science. In 2005, 1.2 percent of all articles published were in open access journals; by 2015, that number had increased to 8 percent. Since 2005, 368 open access articles were published in 138 fully open access journals indexed in the Web of Science, their authors hailing from 52 University of Arkansas departments.
The Libraries’ Office of Scholarly Communications has created several LibGuides with information on Open Scholarship and Open Educational Resources. These guides provide definitions, resources for open textbooks and other open materials, copyright and fair use checklists, legislation, U of A policies, and tips for publishing open textbooks.
The Libraries, in partnership with the Global Campus, also offer awards to faculty for adopting and creating open educational resources for their classes.